Amazon.com Inc. has opened a new front in its efforts to dominate the smart home assistant market: It has signed new deals with a range of manufacturers that will see Alexa preinstalled on Windows 10-powered personal computers.

Announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Monday, the deals see Amazon team up with HP Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd., AsusTek Computer Inc. and Acer Inc., and they will include Alexa integration in both laptop and desktop PCs. Notably, like dedicated Alexa-powered devices such as the Amazon Echo, the PC integration will deliver users the same range of features — not only the ability to simply ask questions but also to control smart home devices attached to a network via voice.

Intel Corp. is also in on the deal, having previously partnered with Amazon to deliver the hardware utilized to power the voice detection technology in the form of integrated audio digital signal processor chip.

“The PC is the ultimate device to bring all your digital experiences together,” Anand Srivatsa, general manager of Intel’s Desktop, Channel and Systems Group, said in a statement. “By introducing voice services like Alexa paired with Intel Smart Sound Technology, we anticipate that the PC will serve an even more important role in maximizing your productivity, getting the most from your entertainment, and managing the smart home or office.”

Preloading Alexa onto PCs may pit Amazon against Microsoft Corp. which already offers the Cortana voice assistant with Windows 10. “This could get awkward for Microsoft and Amazon,” Geekwire wrote. “With the PC integrations, Amazon is moving Alexa onto Microsoft’s turf at a time when the two Seattle-area companies are separately working to make Alexa and Cortana work together. ”

The first PCs to be sold with Alexa preinstalled, debuting in the first quarter, include the following machines:

• Acer: selected Aspire, Spin, Switch and Swift notebooks, as well as Aspire all-in-one PCs and its V6820M and V6820i 4K UHD projectors.
• HP: Pavilion Wave desktop computer
• Asus: select models of its 2018 ZenBook and VivoBook laptops
• Lenovo: ThinkPad X1 Carbon laptop and X1 Yoga convertible

“Hands-free access to Alexa on PCs can be helpful to customers in many ways, like making it simple to interact with your smart home, get news or weather, set timers, and more,” Amazon Alexa Vice President Steve Rabuchin noted. “This is a big step toward making Alexa available wherever customers might need her.”

Image: Lenovo